Monday, October 31, 2011

First Few Weeks

We are all adjusting to having a baby at home...it's going good, and I'm definitely enjoying cuddling with my new baby boy all the time. I am also living in the constant cycle of feedings, changing diapers, and trying to catch some Z's myself. My only goal in life is to every day get in the shower before the day is over...so ambitious:) Marc calls our room "the cave." The curtains are closed and he always finds me in there either feeding Drew or trying to take a nap. Seriously, it is so wonderful to have Marc home and have him to take care of Jake so I can just focus on the baby.

Here is Drew's first bath:
Happy now that he is warm...

What a great big brother Jake has been so far. Jake is very concerned every time Baby Drew is crying. He hovers over him and tries to make him happy. He'll give him his pacifier, or talk to him, or sing him songs. And even when Drew isn't crying, all throughout the day Jake loves to go talk to Drew--give him kisses, and share his toys with him...if anything, our problem is too much love


A few days after I had him, my Aunt Tricia came to stay with us for a week. Where do I even begin on how WONDERFUL this was for me. For one thing, I love my Aunt Tricia and was just so excited to have her come visit and stay with me and have her all to myself. But also, she came to help me--she did SO MUCH. She went to the grocery store, she'd take Jake with her places, she cleaned my house, and cooked a bunch of meals to keep in our freezer for after she left...and of course, she got in some baby cuddle time too:)

My poor Aunt Trina got sick right at the time I had Drew, and so she waited a whole week before coming to see him so that she didn't get him sick. We were joking that she'd come to the house and we'd hold him up at the window for her to see. I was so glad when she finally came and I got to have my 2 Aunts here together.
This is the nursery I decorated...
It's got safari animals on the bedding, so I put safari touches around the room.

The only thing left to do was deal with this blue glider chair that doesn't match my browns, creams, and greens in the nursery.
And there was another thing Tricia did while she was here...made me new cushions for the glider. I am so impressed by her sewing skills! (And glad my sewing machine got some use..haha:)
Doesn't it look great?!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Drew Nicholas Rueckert

He's here! He came 10 days ago on Oct. 8th. He weighed exactly 7 lbs. We are so happy to have him here. It took us the whole time we were in the hospital to decide on his name...but we finally decided on Drew which we both love, and Nicholas comes from my middle name--Nicole--and I was actually named after my great-grandfather: Louis Nicholas...so that's where we got Nicholas from

Proud dad
Very happy mom
This is my new best friend...my anesthesiologist! She made me pain-free. I love her:)
The group waiting at the hospital to meet little Drew
Jake came that night to meet his brother. He was so excited!

This is my doctor...Dr. Gray
This is Drew the next day...looking a little tired. We had a long first night with him because he wasn't breathing very good--he had a lot of fluid in his throat/lungs and it wasn't until the next morning that a nurse finally took care of it
the Grandpas
the Grandmas
It was great to have family and friends visit at the hospital the next day...Frank and Barbara again, Karen & Tyler, the Kietas, the Keithlys, the Jensens, Tim and Shannon, Britney and Betsy, Grandma and Grandpa again, Uncle Tim, and my Dad and Terry came with Jake again







The pacifier looks so big on his face:) But we were glad he was taking it and liked it...Jake never would take a pacifier
Happy (and tired) mommy
Leaving to take baby Drew home!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

August & September


Wow...do I have a lot of catch up! I wanted to do a big post before the baby comes on catching up on the last 2 mos., since my next post will most likely be about our new little boy:) So here it goes:

We went to several Angels games this summer (technically we are still Dodgers fans too...but Angels stadium is oh so close:) This is Mormon night and all our fam was there:


In the beginning of August, Jake and I went to Las Vegas with Tim, Shannon, and their kids. Marc would have gone except he had just taken the week off of work for the high adventure with the young men, and he didn't have any more days to take. We stayed at a fun hotel for families...with a lazy river


and the swimming pool had a big sand area that led into the pool...with tons of sand toys for the kids to use...



Me and my boy loungin'


Jake just LOVES babies, especially baby Wes (Tim and Shannon's youngest)...baby Wes has been good for Jake to see what his new brother will be like


Jake loved all the water features in the lazy river, and made a point to get his head under each and every one...some kids shy away from being drenched on the head with water, but this kid loves it


Jake, Luke, and Matt


In The Mirage we went and saw the lions. We also did the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, and of course saw the water show at Bellagio...multiple times (since it is my absolute favorite). But even at 9 pm at night...it was freakin' hot! Thank goodness we stayed in the pools all day. Jake and I had lots of fun on the Vegas trip with Timmy, Shannon, and the kids...we were glad they invited us!


This is one day when Jake called us into our closet. He was sitting on the floor in this box, and wanted to be put away up on the shelf. So we put him up there and covered him up with clothes. He thought it was hilarious.


In the middle of August, Marc's sister Marcy and her family came and stayed with us for a week. Here's the cousins at the beach:


Having Morgan and Madolyn at our house all week was so great...they are great girls and Jake loved having buddies to play with all week


Here we are at another Angels game where we took "other Jake," one of Jake's buddies. These two had so much fun--not watching the game--just banging peanuts on the chairs to crack them open, and dancing in the aisles whenever the music came on...and of course, the fireworks show.


We had a garage sale at the beginning of September...I worked SO hard for weeks leading up to it, to go through EVERYTHING in the garage and house...completely spring cleaning our entire lives. So the garage sale was very satisfying--to get rid of a lot of stuff. I feel so much happier having all of the spaces in our house organized.


Jake started pre-school on Sept. 7th. He was so excited for his first day! I have to say, I felt like my little man looked more grown up all the sudden--it's my first time sending him off to somewhere multiple time a week. So it felt weird to begin that, when for 3 1/2 years he's only been with me. But I feel like it is a great thing to start before the baby comes--it will give him something fun to do while we get adjusted at home with a newborn.


Here's the 3 boys..."other Jake", Jake, and Luke--ready for their 1st day


Here's another one of Jake's buddies--Brooke. They were playing dress-up and having tons of fun getting the "bad guys"


It was SO great of Shannon, Karen, and Grandma to throw me a baby shower the other weekend. It meant a lot to me, and was so fun to celebrate the baby coming.






Aren't these cute party favors they made...It says "Luisa's going to pop." And its around bags of popcorn.
Here's me with some of the people there: Allie, Lindy, Shannon, Shawna
Terry, Karen, Trina, Grandma, me, Roberta, Shannon
Kristin, Joanne, and me (and also Jenn, Sunni, Britney, Erica, and Tiffany were there)...it really made me feel loved--I felt so grateful to everyone for coming and being excited with me
Marc and I decided last Saturday would be our LAST DAY of working on the house--hallelujah!!! The time has come! We are going to take a good long break...(like a year maybe) of not doing anything else. Yes friends, that means our weekends are now open--and we won't be talking about Lowe's, Home Depot, or renovating any more. I've really needed to stop--I need the break from the work of it, and need the break from my house always having that construction mess that I'm trying to clean up on top of normal housework. Now, I did not imagine that at 9 mos. pregnant I'd still be working on the house...it has not been easy. But, we worked as hard as we could up through Saturday...


Here's Marc grouting the kitchen backsplash. Can I just mention I sampled 15 colors of grout before choosing the one we'd use...I got a science lab going in the garage of mixing and testing grouts...so glad that is done! So............we are done, or I should say, stopping. And I will be showing "After" pics of the house very soon.



We hit up another Angels game with my Dad and Terry while they were down for the weekend...this time without the Jakester. We sat in seats where we had menus and we ordered and paid for our food right from our seats, and they brought the food to us. How great is that? Thanks to my Dad and Terry for taking us--it was actually their belated birthday present to Marc.


Ok, switching gears now to baby #2: Here's my most recent prego pic. As I write this post, I am exactly 1 week away from my due date. I can't believe the time is almost here. I am really really excited to have another little boy to love--and I feel so happy that our family is getting to grow.

And Jake can't wait for his brother to get here!!!


So stay posted...